The ringing of the bell was not right
Not louder and not softer than normal, not early and not late. Simply wrong, in a way Alucent couldn't quite put his finger on but sensed in his chest, a variance in pitch from all the other signals he'd heard on past shifts. The signal communicated not in itself but in variation.
Workers in offices paused. A moment before movements had completed before reaction negated confusion, before body memory prevailed, and activity recommenced. But this pause was collective, a recognition that something had changed, even if no one knew what that was.
The heat grew quickly. Not the steady, building accumulation of heat Alucent had grown accustomed to during the production forge processes, but an acceleration of heating processes that caused his work cloak to seem as if it were actually retaining the heat rather than controlling it. Sweat had soaked through his undershirt in a matter of minutes.
"Priority cycle," his mind filled in for him. He had heard the phrase whispered once by staff members with more seniority in the factory whenever they thought the management was out of earshot. "Priority cycle" had to do with an override that pressed the system to work beyond normal boundaries to increase production.
It was not announced. A supervisor did not appear to explain a change in conditions or a rise in the level of expectations. The way the bell rang was not right, but everyone just adapted, changed their approach to fit the new reality.
The Iron Vale spoke by implication. By bells ringing differently. By the heat developing quicker. By the slight shift in the movement of the other workers, which indicated a difference had happened, and it was your job to determine what, before it became a problem for you.
Alucent routing board updated.
The change came suddenly enough that he almost didn't notice, his attention fixed on the dials he had been watching. Then he looked down and the reading was fifteen pressure junctions, rather than the six he had been monitoring before. An area of coverage increasing in multiple sectors of the forges, interlocking networks that brought the consequences of a choice made at one end into the infrastructure he didn't begin to fully understand.
There would be no warning. No explanation. Just the increased scope, the increased responsibility, theinerary of his possibly erroneous actions.
Retention granted coverage, not authority. Coverage meant they'd raised what he was accountable for, without adding more staff or providing any kind of training or support. Testing whether he could handle complexity through immediate exposure, rather than progressive increase.
The first gauge was nearing a dangerous threshold. However, Alucent regulated the respective valve to deflect the pressure into safer routes. The reading normalized.
Three other gauges started rising immediately towards the red zones.
Since it is an interconnected system. Since correcting one problem usually created others. Since it involved maintaining a dynamic equilibrium of several variables at the same time.
Alucent cycled through his adjustments at an ever-increasing speed. It was manageable. Barely. As long as nothing unexpected occurred, as long as no equipment failed and no one misgauged their rhythms, he could, just barely, get the parameters right at all fifteen junctions.
But acceptable meant functioning at or near catastrophe on a daily basis. No leeway for mistakes, no tolerance for degradation, no place for issues that were bound to pop up when systems were pushed harder than approved design criteria would allow.
One major failure, and he'd have to decide. Which parts to save, which parts to abandon, which lives to salvage versus which to sacrifice in order to meet the greater good of the war effort.
The weight of it was like a physical burden in the chest, causing difficulty breathing beyond what the heat and physical activity called for. This was no longer a theoretical scenario. Wasn't a choice of ethical decision he might discuss with himself during the downtime. This was concrete, hands-on, and very likely to go down during this shift, the way the pressure was being applied.
-
Raya was moving boxes in material transfer lane seven until she was steered to lane twelve by someone.
There was no explanation. No intimation that she had done anything improperly or that the task was finished. Simply a slate runner appearing, pointing off at various sections of the floor, and she was expected to comply.
The seventh lane had held raw metal ingots. Heavy, so they had to be carefully lifted to avoid straining her back. But simple to do. She'd been finding a rhythm, a way of moving that was efficient.
Lane number twelve was finished components. Lightweight materials, smaller parts, but with more precision because of the ripple effect of damage. Different muscle groups, different sense of space, different risk assessment.
She adapted. Adjusted her movements, grip and stance, and routing to suit the new requirements. Began creating new efficiency habits.
Thirty-eight minutes later, reassigned to lane four.
Chemical precursors this time. They were containers that were sealed and had warning signs of danger on them; the material that had to be handled using expert processes that she had to learn on her own since no human guidance was available.
They were quite heavy and touched on the limits of her strength.
No specialization. No chance to build expertise through repetition. Just rapid-fire cycling through different settings which prevented mastery, prevented satisfaction, or any feeling that experience was adding up to good expertise.
Combat had rules too, Raya reasoned as she set up the next container of chemicals. Even street fights had patterns that could be studied and leveraged through experience and training. The combatant knew who the foe was and what the goals were to be achieved.
It had metrics. It measured the ability of work to be quantified, reduced human effort to statistical data, measured the comparison of productivity without the need to consider context or assign meaning. She wasn't fighting anything, or surviving in spite of threats. Just going about with the completion of meaningless tasks.
The slate runner reappeared. Forty-one minutes. This time, pointing to lane nine.
Raya followed, her jaw clenched behind her facial cloth. Her body hurt from altering her patterns of movement so frequently, her hands beginning to show signs of repetitive damage from grips she had not trained herself to perform. Still, she was effective enough to continue to fulfill her purpose, to meet at least some minimum requirement to continue to be employed.
Lateral reassignment without progression. Trying to gauge her adaptability, testing how fully her emotional landscape had deteriorated under circumstances in which she had learned nothing she could yet consider.
She had survived every other conflict by proving dangerous in ways that had relevance to those she was working for. Speed, accuracy, combat skills. Abilities that ensured groups were alive and missions were accomplished.
In this context, such qualities were irrelevant. Excess capacity that had no purpose in terms of productive use. She was substitutable with any other employee willing to transfer materials from point to point, distinguished only by her willingness to be reassigned without complaint or struggle.
This truth sank like a weight in her chest. She was not retained for her value. She was retained for her compliance. And the instant her compliance faltered or her production slipped past acceptable levels, she could be labeled waste and eliminated.
---
Gryan was there in the Core Support access corridor during what was equivalent to a break rotation.
Alucent almost didn't recognize him at first. Same work cloak, same face wrap, but a difference in his movement. This time, the movement was more cautious, with a greater sense of compensation.
Then Alucent spotted the braces. Metallic enhancements had been built into Gryan's cybernetic arm rigging, stretching out from the existing infrastructure to attach to his shoulder and torso. The area where the steel and flesh met was inflamed, even visible beneath the grime and perspiration.
"Gryan," Alucent whispered, careful not to raise his voice above the level of the background noise.
Gryan turned, and his visage behind the face wrap was difficult to interpret. Not hostile, per se, but definitely shut down in a way that indicated he had been through things he didn't feel like talking about.
They might have two minutes before the end of break rotation, where they'd be expected back at their stations. Not enough time for updating or strategy coordination. Just enough time for some information exchange.
"You look different," said Alucent, as a direct observation was the best policy.
"Core Support requires changes for deep infrastructure access," Gryan replied, his voice toneless and robotic. Not his usual tone, lacking the warmth he usually conveyed, even in a professional manner. "Standard procedure."
The standard procedure that involved bolting more metals in you without what appeared to be proper medical support or pain control. The standard procedure that had changed the way Gryan moved and showed signs of physical trauma that no one was addressing.
Alucent wanted to ask more questions. He wanted information about what Core Support entailed and what changes were being put into place. And whether or not Gryan was all right or just enough so that he could keep working. But time was of the essence.
However, Gryan asked something that made Alucent's chest constrict with apprehension
"Did the bell ring oddly in your ears?"
Simple question. Apparently benign. But carrying a weight that implied Gryan had access to information he wasn't supposed to know, information that came from working closer to the facility's core systems.
"Yes," Alucent said. "Wrong frequency. Priority cycle, I think."
Gryan nodded slowly. The mechanical limb whirred softly as hydraulics cycled. "Core Support hears cycles before they're declared. The pressure builds downstream before it becomes a product issue."
Which gave Gryan warning of impending system failures. Could see trouble on the horizon before it turned into a disaster. Was placed in a position where he would be to blame in the event of disasters.
"How bad?" asked Alucent
"Don't know yet." There was something in Gryan's voice that could be concern or could be resignation. "They don't assign people to Core Support because everything is stable. People go to Core Support because a collapse is anticipated, and they need someone with enough knowledge of the mechanisms involved to perhaps prevent it."
The break rotation bell rang. A different sound from the priority cycle bell, but no less misleading in ways that Alucent was learning to decode. Thirty seconds to return to stations or be labeled deficient for failure to comply.
"Be careful," Gryan said, already turning to go to his assigned hallway. "Your scope expanded?"
"Yes," confirmed Alu
"Mine too. Different direction." Gryan paused, looking back. "I think they're testing divergence. Seeing how we handle separation."
Then he was gone, vanishing into the access corridor that led to the Core Support infrastructure. Alucent returned to his control alcove, the brief encounter replaying in his mind even as his hands worked automatically on monitoring the gauges and adjusting the valves.
They were being separated. Not physically isolated, but they could meet each other during breaks or change of shifts. Functionally divided, though, with different risk levels and subjected to different stresses. The trio that had infiltrated together was being divided into separate assets with separate roles.
And Gryan had heard the bell before it rang. Was positioned downstream of failures, close enough to core infrastructure that he'd know about problems before they manifested at production level.
Which meant he'd be faulted if anything went wrong. Would be labeled ineffective if he couldn't stop the downfall even if he had warning. Set up to fail by unrealistic expectations rather than lack of capability.
---
The goods passed through the staging points with greater frequency during the priority cycle.
The fact that it was observed by Alucent is due to his enhanced monitoring horizon. The screen display now had sections that dealt with the flow of materials beyond the concern for pressure management alone.
The boxes labeled BIO-REACTIVE INPUT (UNSTABLE) were being routed closer to the active pressure arrays. Not being sorted into isolated sectors for processing, but being moved right into sectors where they would be readily available for the processes that needed them.
Routing patterns implied consumption and not accumulation. There was a constant supply of materials into processes and not holding inventory reserves.
Alucent observed the flow, his analytical brain working out the implications even as his hands sustained the pressure patterns on the fifteen junctions. The parasites weren't warehoused in preparation for some future operation. They were in use, woven into ongoing operations in a way that necessitated expert observation.
Input classification, the supervisor had explained during the assessment of Alucent's retention. Some processes demand people who are knowledgeable about Runeforce and its integration with industrial systems.
Not storage. Not transportation. Integration. The parasites were being incorporated into a process Renshaw suspected required metaphysical understanding simply to observe.
They were not feeding machines. They were feeding outcomes.
Whatever it was the Iron Vale was making—whatever the industrial output warranted in terms of this efficient, cruel, optimized suffering—the parasites were a vital component. Raw material or catalyst or component, something not replaceable with traditional alternatives.
Alucent would have liked to delve deeper, to see where the trail went beyond what he could see on his monitoring screen, to know just what happened to the boxes and what happened to their contents. However, he is diverted by the challenges of pressure management, of continuously working to stave off failures in the large set of responsibilities he has been given.
The priority cycle called for focus. Research would have to be delayed until a situation allowed divided attention. This would not be immediately harmful.
---
Their supervisors passed through overhead catwalks with slates and recorded without intervening.
Alucent caught occasional glimpses of them in the heat shimmer and smoke of industry, figures silhouetted against the glare of monitoring machinery that recorded everything that was measurable, and a few things that shouldn't have been.
They were not teaching, not coaching workers. Not providing any sort of feedback or instruction or assistance when issues were detected. Simply recording, making notes, compiling databases to guide decisions on resource distribution and status regarding retention.
Delay Tolerance. The amount of time it took workers to respond to a problem, whether reaction time increased or deteriorated under constant stress.
Deviation handling. How procedures were adjusted when there was deviation, or whether they accommodated aptly or resulted in issues.
Emotional variance. Mood changes and behaviors that indicated possible psychological distress and physical fatigue or a loss of capability that would dcfect productivity.
No one was corrected during the observation. Correction implied investment, the belief that the employee was worth the time and effort necessary for boosting his or her performance. Iron Vale liked the policy of attrition, natural selection was left to weed out the underperforming assets while retaining the ones adjusting well to increased expectations.
Alucent felt the impact of this comment, the reality that his actions were being tracked and assessed for patterns that would dictate what use could be made of him. Each decision, each adjustment, each pause or surety was information being gathered in the profile that was being written without his input or permission.
He kept his mind on the gauges, the pressure distributions that had to be constantly attended to. Did his job well enough to remain retained, but not well enough to cause a stir or increase his level of involvement even more.
Treading the fine line between being competent enough to retain and inconspicuous enough to not be the test case on which the measure of the maximum amount of responsibility an individual worker could bear was to be determined.
---
The water break holding area was small enough that running into other teams was more happenstance than planning.
Raya was on hand when Alucent arrived, her face wrap pulled low to drink from the water dispenser on the wall, her left cheek scar visible and her eyes sunk into exhaustion that her professional demeanor was doing its best to conceal.
Gryan soon appeared, his altered arm clicking away until people reverted their attention back to their own worries. No one was concerned with the troubles of fellow employees when they had enough of their own.
Thirty seconds. This was the duration of break rotation. Enough time to hydrate. Nothing more.
Raya immediately realized the presence of Gryan's new brace. Her eyes evaluated the framework and irritation without needing words.
She noticed Raya's hands, how they shook minutely as she extended them to turn on the water dispenser. Muscle fatigue from repeatedly being reassigned, and forced to use unfamiliar patterns of movement.
Gryan observed the expanded monitoring slate evident on Alucent's cloak, realizing the scope of monitoring now retained.
No one said a word. Only looks were passed, which spoke volumes without needing words to be heard or recorded.
They weren't being measured together any longer. Not as a team, a unit, a resource together. They were each being individually assessed, stretched in different ways, judged on different standards to meet different needs that fit into a bigger scheme.
But the group that had managed to go undercover together was disintegrating. Not due to a lack of trust or agreement, but due to a division designed to segregate them like interchangeable parts.
Raya's side reallocation challenged adaptability and compliance against meaningless situations. Gryan's Core Support role challenged technical skills in advance awareness of imminent failure. Alucent's broadened range challenged decision-making in high consequence.
Three assets were retained. Three different trajectories. Three tests to discover the best use before the asset depreciated to a level below retention.
The bell ringing for break rotation sounded. They parted without a word, going back to their designated stations, all of them aware that whatever was going to happen, they'd deal with it separately, not together.
The Iron Vale had started to make decisions on how each one of them would be used until they were exhausted.
---
The priority cycle concluded three hours later.
There was no announcement, no ceremony, but only a slow reduction in demand pressure and heat intensity, which indicated a return to normal operational values. The wrong bell rang again with a different tone from that of initiation, which indicated an end through deviation.
The workers who had survived without catastrophic failure went back to work with reduced intensity. The ones who had failed were already gone, replaced by new ones who had only learned one thing: failure had consequences, and success is merely surviving.
Alucent's gauges settled into acceptable ranges. Ready and able to maintain pressure within specified limits at all fifteen junctions; no catastrophic failures that would have labeled him unsuitable for retention.
But he'd made good decisions. Rapid adaptations, proper prioritization, strategic risk management that addressed competing pressures without sacrificing too many personnel for preventable deaths.
Good decisions, decisions that had ended in death. Choices to alleviate certain pressures, to let others build to the point of rupture, to protect certain chambers in favor of others, for the integrity of the bigger system.
The math was the same as he had done in other shifts. The same calculation, the prioritization of production over staff, the acknowledgement that losses were to be expected for system functionality to occur.
The stakes were higher now. More individuals affected by the decisions he made, a greater effect of his decisions, a greater pressure of responsibility resting in his chest.
The slate above the manufacturing floor updated with information from the priority cycle. It included performance statistics, survival rates, as well as calculations regarding efficiencies that helped in decisions related to resource allocation. Three retained assets were tested under high pressure.
Three different employees were tested in separate settings to cater to divergent contexts related to different abilities and pathways for optimal utilization. What the Iron Vale was determining was how they were each to be utilized. The potential ways their abilities could be leveraged to the fullest before they became unfit for further use.
Alucent slowly removed his work gloves, observing as his hands came out steady and functioning as if they had done nothing but what they'd done. The steadiness unnerved him more than fear would have. There was a creeping sense of adaptation that transcended deliberate choices. There would be another shift the next day. More decisions to make, more calculations to be done, more chances to be what he had been pretending to be until it became reality.
The difference between the concepts of infiltration and absorption had disappeared. When in the system, they fulfilled its roles while in search of a weakness that they could possibly exploit. If they ever did. If it held. If they weren't consumed along the way before they figured out what it was they'd come to learn.
Alucent put away his gloves where they were assigned to be stowed, checked his face wrap, and waited for the next challenge. The Iron Vale would keep probing. Continue to press. Continue to wring out the last possible use out of available resources until they wore out. He could only survive for as long as he could make it matter.